2014: A Year in Review

The new year brings with it reflections on the past and predictions for the future. Thirteen days into 2015, and reform in higher education is already at the top of the agenda with President Obama’s plans to introduce free community college for millions of students.

We’ve compiled some highlights of 2014, and things to look forward to in 2015.

Looking back on 2014…

Creative Commons Celebrated 12 Years since the release of the first CC license suite.

The 2014 “State of the Commons” reportindicated significant growth in the number of CC-licensed works. It also noted a trend in people adopting the most open license types, and an expanding international user base.

In the UK, REF 2014 gave a huge boost to the number of institutions classed as “world leading.” This was a surprising outcome, amid widespread academic anxiety about the processes used to assess research quality.

The 2014 Babson Survey raised some concerns by reporting that many faculty don’t know what the term OER means, and only 2.7% consider student expenses when choosing textbooks.

The OER Research Hub published its second annual report, revealing how OER use improves non-grade related aspects of student performance. A majority of educators reported an increase in student engagement, independence, self-reliance and overall interest in the subject being taught as a direct result of using OER.

We attended the 2014 CUNY IT Conference at John Jay College, where Brian presented “A Sustainable Model for OER.”

We also learned from others at CUNY IT 2014, about “strengthening the student experience through open digital technologies” and how the digital humanities “empower our students by giving them a sense of being content creators.”